The Lovely Side: Impromptu House Tour!

Happy weekend! Since we've been living in our 105-year-old house for just over a month now, I figured it was high time that I shared some photos. We're not completely settled in. The guest bedroom is full of clothes I need to launder, sort, and donate. And the upstairs bath is the current laundry zone since the washer and dryer are in there. But I do have some rooms to share!

Like the foyer. Above you can see our lovely antique front door.

I've switched things up just a bit in the foyer since I last posted about the flea market style look I was going for. I kept the overall look, but added my Gone with the Wind poster and art as well as swapped out my big old Underwood typewriter for a smaller red and cream, mid-century model that complements the rug.

Here's a view of heading up the stairs and looking down into the living room.

The house actually boasts a double-parlor... one in front, one attached to it through French doors. We use the front parlor as our living room and the back parlor as my office.

There's some wild wallpaper in here. While it's not my favorite, I can live with it for a while. Wallpaper removal and paint will be a late summer project. We have plenty to keep us busy with the landscaping right now!

It's hard to see because I took this picture in the sunny afternoon, but our front parlor has an incredible stained glass window. It's so colorful and pretty... and works well with my bright, bold turquoise and orange color scheme.

Here's a glimpse of my office from the living room. You can see my Mucha reproduction painting and the fireplace. Just a sneak peek for now!

Now turning back toward the foyer, you can see the hallway closet that goes under the stairs. This closet has become our main storage spot for now.

I really like the shade of green used in the foyer, which extends into the upstairs hallway. So when we do get around to painting, I think I'll just get it matched and do touch-ups and keep it for several more years.

Let's head upstairs, shall we?

There's also a maid's staircase, but pics of that will come later.

My favorite room in the house is without a doubt our master bedroom! I surprisingly love the sky blue + mustard gold + ivory combination on the walls. Yes, the little lamp on G's nightstand is made out of a Coke can. He made it way back in junior high shop class or something. I like that it's a little weird and a lot nostalgic. Decorating doesn't always have to take itself so seriously. :P

I was worried about how my colorful quilt will go with the blue, since there's no blue in the quilt. But I love how it works! And I can bring in other splashes of red, yellow, green, and sky blue throughout the room to pull it all together.

I adore how my handsome antique dresser looks in here. The house and dresser were probably built/made around the same time, so they feel right at home together among all the dark wood. These windows also face east, so we get an amazing view of the sunrise each morning. (Though, G prefers to keep the blinds closed and not be woken up so early! Heh.)

To the left of the dresser, you can see the doorway to the attached master bath.

But first! One more look at the bed! I really love how the red headboard pops against the blue. I'm toning down the color explosion with some gray and beige burlap, too. Please excuse the rug... I forgot to vacuum before snapping pics! Haha.

You might have noticed in the bedroom, too... though the upstairs also boasts 10-foot ceilings, the windows are positioned closer to the floor. So my curtains pool on the floor. A solution for this is on my to-do list, as is raising the curtain rod. One amazing thing: the walls are exactly the same shade of blue as my mermaid shower curtain. It was meant to be!

In our master bath, we have this really old toilet where the tank is mounted nine feet up on the wall. And you have to pull a chain to flush! I'm still getting used to it. I still kinda giggle on the inside when I pull the chain.

The vanity is an old dresser turned sink. I love it, but I'm not crazy about the tile. Someday we'll redo the countertop. Excuse the laundry basket! Heh.

Another shot of our fantastic, antique toilet and its pull chain.

Back downstairs, this is the dining room. Our tiny little table is dwarfed by the grand room, so maybe someday we can upgrade... which would also be nice for entertaining. As of now, we can only seat four in this giant room.

The picture frame and mirror aren't staying on the radiators... I just propped them there to get them out of the way. Same goes for art. I just needed somewhere to hang it, so I found a nail and put it up. There's a lot to do in this room and so much potential.

There's our bar cart, which looks so spindly in this space! I'll have to beef it up somehow. And next to it is our keezer. G homebrews, so he built this keezer (basically, a giant kegerator) to keep his beer on tap. I wish we'd stained the wood, but it's so great to have fresh beer on tap in our own house that I'm not complaining. ;)

On the opposite side is the built-in china cabinet. It's double-sided, so the doors and drawers can also be accessed from the butler's pantry on the other side. We were planning on putting some legit china in this cabinet, but our curated collection of beer, wine, and cocktail glasses look soooooo good that I think the china will have to go elsewhere. Or maybe I'll need to go antiquing for freestanding china cabinet.

Here's the doorway into the butler's pantry, one of my favorite features of the house.

Turns out, butlers are expensive. And the place didn't come with one. ;) So rather than hire one, I re-purposed part of his pantry into a coffee and tea nook. It's nice to have all my hot beverage ingredients in one place, along with some fun artwork. That cow painting just called out to me. And what better way to celebrate moving to small town, rural Iowa than a big, colorful Mooooo?

The other end of the butler's pantry is G's baking arsenal. He's quite the baker... from sweet breads to cakes to everything in between. (Thank goodness, because I can't bake pre-made cookies without messing them up. Haha.) Anyway, he has a lot of baking stuff. Too much for the kitchen. So it all goes those cupboards, along with the cookbooks.

In the middle, we've got a kind of chaotic command zone where anything goes for now. It's got a bulletin board and mail organizer and chalkboard... and I really need to figure out what I want the space to be. For now, it's fine. Underneath the desk area is indeed the litter box. I don't love it there, but it's an out-of-the-way place. I'm going to get a tension rod and small curtain to close it off.

Last stop on the tour: our main floor powder room. I originally had a little Nancy Drew artwork hanging in here, but it just didn't feel right. So I swapped it out for some of my vintage, mid-century Saturday Evening Post covers in shiny silver frames.

The lighting isn't the best in here, so it doesn't show the true colors. The vanity bottom is crisp white like the toilet and mirror frame. The upper walls are actually a very light greenish yellow. And the beadboard is something between sage green and dusty teal. The retro magazine covers pick up on the colors of the space. I decided to accent with a bold reddish coral, which there's another splash of in the magazine cover hanging to the far right... though you can't see the whole image. The rug on the floor combines all the colors. I really love how this bathroom turned out. It's so cute!

So there you go! You got to see half of the house.

Coming soon, I'll share pics of my office, the kitchen, guest room, and upstairs bath... and eventually maybe some pics of G's office, though it's currently lavender with floral wallpaper and borders. ;) Haha.